lol
People will nitpick over everything, as long as it fits their narrative.
I’m a bit of an audiophile, and I had no issue plugging my A50s directly into the 360/PS3 back in the day. They had solid surround representation all the way back then, let alone the new consoles.
Atmos is a third party product that’s a bit more customizable, and they ask a one time purchase of $15 measly dollars if you want to use it.
That said, it’s just an option.
Your typical consumer wouldn’t even know the difference between most spatial audio programs like this without being told there was a difference.
The only people who benefit from these more customized programs are people trying to get the most out of a low end headset, or the niche market of those really picky about their audio, trying to get the most out of their higher end $200+ sets.
Your average gamer using the typical $60 – 120 midrange sets will see virtually no difference between the stock programs used in either of the systems. This really is a non-issue, and wouldn’t even be talked about had Microsoft not added the free trial in with the headset.